A/N: Wow, thank you guys for your awesome response! I wasn't expecting it. Just, wow, thank you for each and every review and favorite! :D
To my anonymous reviewer ChildofGod: yes, I am a Christian. I love Jesus Christ and despite all the ups and downs and craziness of this life, I trust Him to have the helm. Judging by your name, you are too? If you'd like to discuss our faith and Jesus Christ feel free to PM me and we can chat. And bless you for your enthusiasm for this fic! Your reviews encouraging me to update soon are one of the main reasons I'm posting this today instead of a week from now. I hope you enjoy it. :)
Leradomi, you got your wish: this story has officially become more than a two-shot. *facepalm* Even though I have 10k to write for a Hobbit fic due in two weeks...Lol.
So before we get this show on the road, I want to thank my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for His abounding mercy and love. I am so blessed and thank Him with all my heart for all He provides. :D
Disclaimer: Not mine obviously.
And not beta'd at all. So please forgive me for any mistakes. Enjoy!
My Mission: Part 2
Night fell on the city, yet chaos continued to reign. The smoldering remains of the helicarriers still burned and hundreds of law enforcement and emergency units were everywhere. The Soldier had taken a dark blue, hooded sweater from the back of a car and moved through the crowds with invisible ease. Checkpoints were everywhere and he took great care to avoid them. As he wove through the pandemonium, the Soldier determined that he needed medical supplies.
The closest hospital to the river was as frenzied as the outside. And far too full of law enforcement. He kept walking. By then the pain had dulled to a steady throb, a reminder of the fight and his near demise. If the Captain had not come back for him, he would be dead.
The Soldier forced the memory aside. Not now. He needed to focus. Thinking about the Captain's actions and words only made the malfunction worse.
Eventually, he found a hospital busy enough but far enough from the river that there were few law enforcement officers around. It was easy enough to slip inside to find what he needed. It was not easy, however, to control the sudden need to flee back into the darkness and shadows outside. The smell of antiseptic and blood and cleaner burned his nostrils. Grabbing whatever he found in the first room, he practically ran outside, ignoring the confused looks from nurses, doctors, and patients alike. There was no time for them to think about him further with the demands of the injured.
He walked away from the hospital as fast as he dared. When he was a couple blocks away, he broke into a run. He didn't stop running until he found himself in a park of some kind with an odd white pillar and man-made lake. Only then, away from all the people and lights, did the Soldier stop running.
He coughed for a moment hunched over, shaking.
Something danced at the edge of his mind, a taste of familiarity and terror. The Soldier wiped sweat from his brow and tried to control his breathing.
I know him.
Words that might have been his sounded in his mind.
He knew him. The Captain. His mission.
"Bucky, you've known me your whole life."
Then he was very small. Smaller than he remembered ever being. The soldier was looking at a scrawny, blonde haired boy wrapped in a colored blanket of some sort, book in his hand, propped up on a bed.
The boy smiled at him. It was strange smile. Soft, without the fear or disgust.
"I'm reading The Wizard of Oz. Mrs. Kirkley gave it to Ma yesterday saying I might enjoy it. I think you will too."
He was at the edge of a large bed, peering up as the boy spoke. Then, to his surprise, he was nodding and was scrambling to climb up. The boy laughed and reached out a bony hand to help him up. Once he was on the bed, he crawled over to the boy and found himself wrapped in the blanket next to the blonde. It was warm. Comfortable. The body next to his was bony and he could hear a slight wheeze but he didn't know what it was.
"You're getting too big for this," the boy laughed. "Gonna be bigger than me soon."
There was something sad about his words. But…proud?
A small, chubby hand reached out and tapped the book in the boy's hand insistently. Was it his? But it was…flesh. Not metal.
The boy chuckled and began to read, but the words were lost on him. Red colored his vision and suddenly exploded in a white hot inferno.
The Soldier screamed and hit something hard. Dazed, he looked around and found himself on the ground in the back of an unfamiliar alley. The stone pillar was gone. His head pounded, like when they put him in the…
The thought didn't finish because the next minute he was retching. When his stomach finally calmed, he sank back with a cut off sob, desperately trying to regain control. What was wrong with him? What had the mission done to him?
The small blonde boy with the blue eyes was looking at him again. Smiling. But it was different. Not fearful or angry
Shuddering, he rammed his metal fist into the concrete. This was wrong. All wrong. He was all wrong.
Bucky.
Who the hell is Bucky?
Because his handlers had given him the wrong mission in the beginning must be why this was happening. If he had been guarding the Captain like he was supposed to, he wouldn't be malfunctioning right now. Except…he didn't remember guarding anyone. He had targets, missions that he eliminated—he killed. Protecting had never been part of his mandate. Had it?
Gritting his teeth, the taste of vomit tainting his mouth, the Soldier forced himself to sit up.
He did not have time for this. The Captain should be safely in a hospital somewhere and recovering. If he survived. He needed to tend to his wounds and then collect Intel. Starting with where the woman with red hair and the man with metal wings took the Captain.
The sun was just peaking above the horizon in the east when the Soldier finished tending to his wounds. His dislocated shoulder was the worst and he could not fix it alone. He should go back to base. Continuing his mission with such an injury was not safe.
Something coiled in his belly at the thought of going back to base. His chest burned and his metal hand clenched. Pierce had given him the wrong mission. He was not trustworthy. It was not a mistake. He could not go back. They would wipe him; take the incomplete mission from him because he had failed the original. Baring his teeth, the Soldier determined it was in the best interest of his new mission if he stayed away from them. And if they tried to interfere, he would eliminate them.
His injuries tended, the Soldier got to his feet.
If he was going to avoid his handlers in order to complete his mission, he had to get rid of the clothes they had given him. Pulling the stolen blue hoodie back on, the Soldier set off. As he stepped out of the alley he could see the pillar in the distance. A monument. A needle in the sky.
He started walking.
Natasha sank down into the blue hospital chair, thankful it wasn't a cheap plastic white one like it always was in books and movies. The heart monitor beeped slowly but steadily beside the bed. She never thought she would be so relieved to hear it. After over twelve hours in surgery, Steve had been finally moved to the ICU. He would survive. The bullet that tore through his abdomen would have killed a normal man, but Steve wasn't normal. He was a super-soldier and he would live. At least until she could kick his butt for being such an idiot.
She glanced at his bruised face. Steve was sleeping, or unconscious if you asked the doctor. He seemed peaceful for the moment. As peaceful as a man can look when half his face is pulp. It wasn't as bad as it had been on the riverbank though.
Natasha looked towards the window and saw the sun coming up in the east.
"If it was down to me to save your life, would you trust me to do it?"
"I would now."
Natasha laced her fingers through Steve's slowly. He trusted her. Even knowing who and what she was, despite all her lies, he trusted her. She could not explain the warmth inside her, the disbelief she felt at being given such trust. Somewhere along the way, Natasha realized she trusted Steve too; trusted his judgement. Steve had believed that Barnes would remember him. There, on the side of the Potomac, she had seen that trust had not been wholly misplaced and she'd made a call a year ago she would not have. She let the Winter Soldier go and focused just on saving Rogers. It was illogical, pure emotion, and everything she'd been trained not to do. But she trusted him just as he trusted her.
"Hey."
She turned. "Hey."
Sam entered the room, haggard but dressed in fresh clothes, a duffel in one hand and a book in the other.
"How's he doing?"
"The doctor said he's healing fast and will probably wake by this afternoon."
"Man, that serum is sure something. Can't say I'm not grateful for it."
Natasha nodded, pulling her had carefully—casually—free.
"Should we be expecting the guard dog to come back anytime soon or do you think he's on the run?"
Guard dog. The Winter Soldier. Bucky Barnes. The one and the same person and yet not.
"I don't know," Natasha admitted quietly, hating she did not have an answer. "Instinct will tell him to run, but he was still there when we found Rogers, so…"
"So, he might come back."
Natasha didn't reply. What could she say? Nothing. It was time to call in some major back-up. With Steve down, there was no one else capable of withstanding the Winter Soldier's attacks should he return to finish his failed mission.
"I need to make some calls."
"Well, here," Sam handed her the duffel. "Take a break too while you're at it. I got this."
She took the duffel gingerly, surprised. Wilson smiled at her, catching her surprise. She really did need to rest if Wilson was seeing through her. "Go on now. Make all those secret calls and grab a shower. I've got his back."
A little dazed, Natasha started towards the door and then stopped.
"Hey Sam."
"Yeah?"
Natasha looked back at the soldier and then at the wounded soldier sleeping on the bed. "Thanks."
tbc...
Thank you for reading! Please let me know what ya'll think. :)
More coming soon. (ie when I have spare time, lol)
Have a great day!
Noelani
